European Union leaders may put climate policy back on center stage this month, following a summer of record-shattering heat and deadly weather extremes across the continent.
The shift comes as Ursula von der Leyen prepares her annual State of the European Union address, scheduled for September 16. Observers anticipate climate action will feature heavily in the speech after two years of environmental policy rollbacks that drew sharp criticism from green advocates.
Global warming dominated EU priorities for years, but defence spending and industrial competitiveness have since crowded it out. The bloc has weakened new sustainability rules for corporations and floated scrapping a planned 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales.
Now, pressure builds for a course correction. Around 200 environmental organisations wrote to von der Leyen in August demanding concrete fossil fuel phaseout plans for the 27 member states. Meanwhile, EU commissioners will meet Swedish climatologist Johan Rockstrom on Friday for a post-summer seminar, a move some read as a signal of renewed climate focus.
Yet conflicting signs abound. EU sources say the speech will emphasise “climate resilience” and green industry economics, two comparatively safe topics. Resilience legislation was already slated for year-end release, while green industrial growth has been a recurring theme throughout von der Leyen’s seven-year tenure.
The ambitious Green Deal legislation that marked her first term faces tough odds now. Green parties lost seats in the 2024 European elections. The centre-right holds sway, with far-right climate sceptics gaining influence. Right-wing lawmaker Celine Imart said the priority lies not in “repainting in green laws that Europeans have asked to be modified.”
Internal commission divisions persist too. Green voices have clashed with pro-business colleagues over carbon market reforms affecting aviation and maritime transport. Simultaneously, member states argue over how to distribute limited funds from the next long-term EU budget.
Green leader Terry Reintke called the situation “an uphill battle,” but vowed to push “very, very hard” for concrete climate actions in von der Leyen’s address. “We are talking about existential issues here,” she told AFP.
